My Guard for Life

Chapter 1

Pierre's POV

"Lorenzo is a disappointment. How could he do this to our family?"

I was carrying a book upstairs to my brother's room when I overheard my father in his office.

I gritted my teeth and continued walking. I passed my room and to the hallway. I knocked and unlocked the door to my brother's room.

"Hey," I began.

I saw him staring at the wall blankly while sitting in front of his desk. I stepped toward him.

"Tsk," I hissed.

I laid the book that I borrowed from him on the desk. He didn't glance at me. My curiousity grew as seconds passed by.

"What's happening, Kuya?" I asked.

He seemed bothered and regretful these past few days. We weren't close; that's why I couldn't ask. My father declined to explain.

Later on, my mother broke the news. At dinner where everyone was present. Dad, Mom, Aviolin, my older sister, and Kuya Lorenzo. Mom told us that Kuya had impregnated his girlfriend and the girl ran away from him.

I couldn't accept the shitty news. Aviolin gasped loudly while I couldn't mutter a word. Kuya is only a sophomore at college. He had just gotten past eighteen. Dad has had plans for him. He was expected to be a bodyguard and operate the company once he graduated.

Kuya remained silent. Dad too. This was the reason he was mad at Kuya, exclaiming that he was disappointed in him.

Dad spoke after a few minutes of silence. "Your mother and I've come to terms..."

I was feeling anxious—sweat ran into my forehead. I stared at Dad as I gripped the fork I was holding. I knew in any second Dad would mention my name. He's planned something for me. Because of this, I'll be involved. My instinct says so. Damn, I don't like it.

"Pierre, you're going to be the bodyguard of the only daughter of the Manzano family."

I was thirteen. I'll be a freshman in high school. I was planning to focus on my studies like an obedient son. I was planning to enjoy it alone. But Daesiree suddenly came into the picture.

"No. I won't be that girl's bodyguard."

I could taste the punch I got from refusing to follow Dad. My decision remained opposite of his. How can I be a bodyguard so young? Ah, because of my brother.

Kuya was the guy I looked up to. He's six years older than me. I thought he could balance his studies and his relationship. He was supposed to be Daesiree's bodyguard. But he had done something he shouldn't. I hate him.

"Sorry, Pierre," Kuya apologized.

He knocked at my door that night. Damn, I wanted to punch his face. I was supposed to be enjoying my remaining years before eighteen. Before I became a bodyguard. He made me do this.

I didn't forgive Kuya. I haven't talked to him since. I thought that maybe a few years from now, Dad would assign him again to that girl I didn't even know.

It was that girl's birthday when I saw her for the first time. I didn't want to get closer to her. Because when I looked or was forced to come closer to her, I could imagine my freedom dissolving from my eyes.

Lucky me, she hated the idea too. She had done everything to make me feel unwanted. She had done everything from telling her parents that she didn't want me to be her bodyguard—making me suffer from all her craziness. She got into relationships at such a young age and even escaped from me.

But I found myself every time I went to bed that neither of those made me mad or lost my patience. I didn't mind all of her craziness. I declined to accept this feeling I had since day one.

I realized that it wasn't only my freedom that they took from me, but also hers. I understood her actions and her attitude. And it made me soft over her. She made me.

One particular situation was when we were eighteen. She got drunk and partied with her friends, including boys. I've talked to her boyfriends, warning them. I've talked to every guy in high school not to make a move on her. Not because she's mine. But because I'm her bodyguard.

"I hate you...y-you!" she shouted at me as I carried her upstairs to her bedroom, wasted.

I got hurt by her words. She had never expressed her hate to me verbally. Not even for her parents. It was unacceptable. I didn't do something that she would hate me for. Ah, because I'm her bodyguard.

Her maid followed us into her room. I laid Dae on her bed, and she drifted off to sleep shortly.

"Salamat ho, Sir, a. Wala na naman kasi ang parents niya kaya ganiyan."

I licked my bottom lip and sighed harshly. I knew everything was just her facade. She's never been a strong and independent woman. She's always been the needy and the dependent girl I know.

I was once the guy who only thought about himself. The guy who was once looking up to his brother. The guy who thought it would be okay to grow alone.

I never thought that I would grow with Dae. After a few years, I never thought I would decline to let Kuya take charge as Dae's bodyguard. Never had I thought that I would take Veterinary medicine just because of Dae's pets. I thought that I would be her bodyguard and nothing more.